What is one of the first things you turn to when you feel the common cold setting in? For many of us, it’s vitamin C. Over the last few weeks I’ve heard people around me talk about catching colds this summer. Since I still have so many fun things I want to accomplish on my summer list, I decided to do some research on vitamin C and foods rich in vitamin C to help lessen my chances of catching a cold bug this summer! Here are some interesting facts I found.
Vitamin C is the most well known vitamin in the world due its relative abundance and super powers to boost your immune system and help prevent the common cold. Foods that are high in vitamin C include citrus fruits such as oranges, limes, lemons, and grapefruit. It is also found in red peppers, parsley, broccoli, potatoes, bananas, and carrots. Looks like my trip to the farmer’s market just got moved to the top of my to-do list!
Vitamin C can aide in protecting against immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, eye disease, and skin wrinkling. It can also decrease the risk of developing cancer, improve cholesterol levels, help regulate blood glucose, advance mental reasoning abilities, decrease the occurrence of asthma, decrease the risk of developing cataracts, and is considered to be a natural laxative.
Even though vitamin C is one of the most common vitamins, many of us are not consuming enough in our normal daily diets. According to the Institute of Medicine the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin C is shown in the table below.
Children:
1-3 Years –15 mg/day
4-8 Years –25 mg/day
9-13 Years – 45 mg/day
Females:
14-18 Years – 65 mg/day
19 Years and Older – 75 mg/day
Males:
14-18 Years – 75 mg/day
19 Years and Older: 90 mg/day
As you can see, vitamin C is an essential component to staying healthy. It has so many health benefits that I never could have imagined, including living a healthy longer life!
What is your take on vitamin C? Do you eat enough of the foods rich in vitamin C or take a supplement of it and how many colds do you experience on average in a year? I’m already making my list of vitamin C rich foods to stock up on this week at the farmer’s market!
Let me know by leaving a comment if you have some favorite vitamin C products or foods ideas to share!
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